Smart cards are used in a variety of financial transactions. For example, smart cards are used in banking and point of sale transactions, loyalty schemes, electronic tolling and electronic ticketing. During a financial transaction, a smart card system uses a card access device to read and write data to a smart card. Hardware and software associated with the card access device are also used to perform the transaction. In some cases, the card access device is in communication with a host system or host. The host system may include a server computer operated by a merchant or an organization affiliated with a merchant (e.g., a credit or debit card company).
A smart card preferably stores as much information about the cardholder as possible. For example, cardholder information such as cardholder passport information, name, address, account number, card expiration date, etc. can be stored electronically in a memory in a smart card. When a consumer uses the smart card, such information can be used to identify the consumer and provide information about the consumer to a particular merchant during a product purchase.
It is also desirable to store cardholder preferences in a memory on the smart card. A cardholder's preferences may be used in a number of ways that can benefit the cardholder. For example, the cardholder's personal preferences can be used to automatically identify what additional goods or services might be offered to the cardholder. For instance, a cardholder may prefer first class seating when flying on an airline. When the cardholder purchases a plane ticket with a smart card having this preference, the cardholder can insert the smart card into an appropriate kiosk for purchasing plane tickets. First class seating choices may be automatically presented to the cardholder before presenting business class or economy seating choices to the cardholder. The cardholder can then use the smart card to purchase a first class plane ticket. Accordingly, preferences that are stored on the smart card can personalize a consumer's transaction.
Preference information, cardholder identification information, and other information can be stored on an EEPROM (electronic erasable programmable read only memory) or other memory in the smart card. However, because the smart card is portable and small, the data storage capacity in the memory in the smart card is limited. Although it would be desirable to store as much information about the cardholder as possible on the smart card, it is not practical to do so. It would be desirable to store as much specific cardholder information in a memory in a smart card, while also minimizing the amount of data stored on the smart card.
It would also be desirable to provide for novel reward and purchasing schemes associated with a portable consumer device such as a smart card.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.